To Be and To Serve
The Ministerial Identity of the Deacon
CHAPTER I
What IS “Ministerial Identity”?
Theologian John Ford, along with others, has pointed out the rather imprecise uses of the term “ministry.”1 The word itself comes from the Latin ministerium which in turn translates from the Greek diakonia: “service.” If the terms are not qualified in some way, it can be hard to sort out just what kind of “ministry” or “service” we’re talking about. Consider just a couple of quick examples. Government officials are often referred to as “ministers,” for example. In diplomatic service, ambassadors and legates are likewise called ministers. Within the world of the church, ministers are those who conduct religious “services” and provide related “services” to those they “serve.” Prior to the Second Vatican Council, the term “ministry” was generally associated with clergy of religions other than the Catholic Church: those folks had ministers, while we Catholics had priests, sisters, and brothers.
With regard to deacons, whose very name means “servants,” it is interesting that one of the early patristic sources on the diaconate observed that “deacons are not ordained to the priesthood, but into service to the bishop [non ad sacerdotium sed in ministerio episcopi], to do that which he commands.”2 Unlike some of the above definitions, here we find a specific qualification and precision. This service of the deacon was very specific: whatever the bishop commanded. Only a couple of hundred years later, as structures of Christian ministry were evolving, that phrase was shortened, and the specific reference to the bishop was removed. Now it was simply said that “deacons are not ordained to the priesthood, but to service [non ad sacerdotium sed ad ministerium]”3 That service, that ministry, could now take a wide variety of forms.
While the forms of ministry associated with the Catholic deacon are many and varied, they are of secondary importance to us in this brief reflection on the ministerial identity of the deacon. What we are looking for is the foundation upon which the deacon’s service rests.
Identity
Hamlet had it right: “To be, or not to be?” That really is the question.
What does it mean to be? What does it mean to be a particular person in God’s creation? In this book, we will reflect on the specific question of what it means to be a deacon ordained for service by the Catholic Church. Often, when we speak about ministry in the Church, we hear about the functions being performed: lectors “read,” Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion “distribute,” catechists “catechize,” and deacons, well … “deacon.” But the real question is not “what do we do?” but “who are we when we do it?”
As Christians, we look to Christ as the model of ministry. He taught; but, many other people were also teaching. Christ healed the sick; but, there were other healers, other prophets, and other religious leaders all around. What made Christ’s teaching, healing, prophesying, so unique? It was not what he was doing as much as who He was as he did it! “They were astounded at his teaching, because he spoke with authority” (Luke 4:32). Christ’s actions had authority because of who he was: “… the Messiah, the Son of the Living God” (Matthew 16:16). As disciples of Christ, the same can be said of us. The various forms of our service rest on the solid foundation of who we are as followers and imitators of Christ.
Before going deeper into this relationship, let’s put it into perspective. All kinds of people do many of the same things that we do, but they do them out of a different “identity;” their actions flow from a different foundation. Catholics are, of course, not the only people who serve; religious people are not the only people who care and act with compassion and generosity! Let me give an example.